For a MomentPoint Claire, Quebec: King’s Road Press, 2009, 16 pages, 28 poems. ISBN 978-1-895557-20-6.
This book is the eighteenth title in Marco Fraticelli’s Hexagram series from King’s Road Press. All books are short, but the series represents a who’s who of haiku, so it’s a fine series to be a part of. Each book features a different hexagram on the cover. Mine is #27, “nourishment,” about which the I Ching says “Nature nourishes all people. The wise man uses words carefully in harmony with what is right. He only offers guidance that he knows will help his followers.” Here are a few of the poems from the book, as selected by editor Marco Fraticelli (See PDF version on the Haiku Foundation website, which says “Welch is one of the stalwarts of American haiku. His works are almost always sharp, concrete renditions of original moments, and this collection is a fine example of his skillful work.”). All poems have been previously published in various journals.
dwindling fire— our conversation shifts to death
spring cleaning— dust in the shape of unanswered mail
spring breeze— flowers in the folds of your skirt
garden supply store . . . each sundial tells a different time
summer vacation— our rhubarb stalks tipped with sugar
summer heat
floating down the stream petals swept from the summer-house deck
a rest by the stream— burrs on the tongue of my tennis shoe
falling rose petals . . . the tattoo on the pallbearer’s arm
grey sky— the dog’s water dish iced over
December dawn— the shape of the flower bed under fresh snow
home for Christmas . . . my childhood desk drawer + empty
Christmas Eve— bits of a price sticker stuck to my finger
a swirl of snow— she lifts her hair out of her sweater
a perfect snowflake for a moment on your tongue
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